Friday, May 27, 2011

Circadian Skip

Frustrated with the constant yelling  "Go to Sleep!" and "Time to Wake up!"? Maybe it is not your child's fault and something else at play. I know I can be guilty of the holler....


ADHD Sleep Problems: Causes and Tips to Rest Better Tonight!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Dark

Its dark, my laptop the only source of light. A plane in flight is heard in the distance. The sound of tired shoes making their way home from the train, working late no doubt. The voices of a couple rehashing their evening. A muffled thumping draws me to the window as I see a motorcycle impatiently revving alone on the corner and stares at the red light. As I watch it grumble away I scan up and down the humid street and see no other signs of life. I turn back into the dark apartment and listen to the quietness of the rooms. Everyone is asleep but me. 


I should be sleeping but I am not. Thinking of tasks needing to do; work, school, family, health, projects seeking closure and ideas looking for daylight. Surprising not very stressed about it. Just sitting here writing, the sounds of a siren chirping far away, and the darkness somewhat soothing... 
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Thursday, May 19, 2011

Master Work

"Today is the day!" I announce to my wife this morning. I can't help being excited for her. After three years, countless long nights, a mountainous pile of papers,a steady stream of revisions, various rant sessions, a fury of explicit words, a even a couple of good cries, my wife graduates today with her Masters in Education.

Her very hard work and dedication resulted in a huge stack of A's, and acceptance into the Kappa Delta Pi, International Honor Society in Education, overwhelming recognition from her classmates and teachers, as well as a tremendous amount of awesomeness bestowed upon her by her husband and son. 

Today is your Day, congratulations on a job well done... 

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Kids, Books and Profanity: Kids’ Book With ‘F’ Word in the Title Is No. 1 - CNBC

I just think this story is great:

Parents use all kinds of adorable language when they’re talking to their kids — “A doo doo doo! A da da da! Yes. Who’s my pretty girl?”
But at the end of a long day of work or taking care of the family, schlepping around a Winnie the Pooh bag and suppressing every profanity-laced thought, when parents find their little angels still bouncing with energy, most of them are thinking one thing: “Go the F*** to Sleep.”

To read full article:
Kids, Books and Profanity: Kids’ Book With ‘F’ Word in the Title Is No. 1 - CNBC

Go the F**k to Sleep
Go the F**k to Sleep

Friday, May 13, 2011

Tapping point

"Here, give it to me, let me show you." "When you want this to happen you need to do this...." "You tap here and drag it there." I sat wide eyed and apprehensive while my son schooled me.


I have always been at ease around a keyboard and mouse, those items have been part of using a computer for years. I am sure when the mouse was invented, it confused the people accustomed to keystroke entries. I can not imagine not using a mouse or a trackball to roam the cyber world. This week the future entered our home in the form of an IPad. Perfectly designed and visually stunning, its hard not to love the "magical" black rectangle. My son took to the machine like he was born with it, tapping, dragging, loading programs with the touch of his finger. I on the other hand, needed to rethink everything. "How do I load something?" I would ask. "Like this..." my son would smirk and quickly summon an app like he was Aladdin rubbing his magic lamp. "How do I save it?" Showing my ineptness while my eleven year old would orchestrate the screen like he was whipping up a spell. Tap, drag, touch, swipe, I was the apprentice marveled by the sorcerer.  It was then I realized the world has moved to the future and I am now the past. 


Hello past, you are a comfortable sight... at least I knew how to program a VCR.... 

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Mother of all days

Typical early Sunday mornings are quiet around town except for the weekend bicycle warriors, dedicated marathoners, and the trekking of dogs walkers, but today was different. 

This morning's traffic was occupied with lines at the bakery, patrons at the bagel store and anxiousness at the flower shop. Those three storms only mean one thing, it's Mothers Day. 

Dads are working overtime to make the day special for their signifiant other, whether it's their wife or partner, its dad's on the clock to organize a special day, and that can be hard to plan without the main planner involved. We get major anxiety on Mothers Day, are we not doing enough, are we doing too much, is the present perfect or off-putting, basically are we being tested? The answer is yes, yes we are being tested, are we able to thank mothers properly on their hard work, their leadership, their compassion and most of all their ability to put up with all the mess the kids and frankly the whole family give them daily. It takes a special person to be a Mom (both psychologically and of course biologically) that us guys need to speak from the heart when we say Thank you.


Happy Mother's Day
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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Forgetting like it was yesterday...

Remember sitting in social studies as a child and thinking that the dates, places and names you needed to memorize for the unit test were things you would NEVER need to know once the test is over? Well think again as you will no doubt meet them face-to-artist rendition once more when your kids tackle fifth grade social studies! 

Little quiz:
Who founded the independent country of Haiti?
You guessed it! Toussiant L'Ouverture











Who helped lead Columbia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela to independence?
That's right, the lovable Simon Bolivar - or more commonly known as:
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Blanco.










Who was the five time President of Mexico who overthrew French occupation, all without a military background? 
That would be none other than Benito Juarez












And who can forget the man who lead the Liberation Army of the South, and even in 1910 knew how important it was to have followers (Zapatistas)
Yes, your friend and mine, Emilliano Zapata











These famous important figures in world history once had its place in my studies, and after a long absence, return once more to be hailed for their bravery and accomplishments, even if it might be only for a limited engagement....

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